The Memon Community are
one of the many widely dispersed peoples of Asia across the globe. This
erstwhile business community claim their roots from the state of Gujarat in
Northern India and have migrated through time in search of greener pastures,
settling down in many nations establishing their very own smaller Memon
communities within these lands. They are found in very large numbers in the
bustling business cities of Karachi, Mumbai, Surat, Chennai, Dhoraji and
Hyderabad in south Asia. Sizeable communities are also found in South Africa,
particularly in Pretoria, Pietersburgh and Pietermaritzburg, and also in Burma,
BanglaDesh and Sri Lanka. Others are scattered across Europe, the UK, the USA
and particularly in the western parts of Portugal.

The total Memon population
across the world is estimated to approximately over 1 Million with the vast
majority located in the Indian subcontinent. The breakdown is as follows:-

India - 550,000

Pakistan - 415,000

South Africa - 25,000

United KIngdom - 22,000

Sri Lanka - 6,000

Burma = 5,000

BanglaDesh - 3,000

The
Lohana Theory

The Lohana Theory on the
origin of the Memon community states that they were originally from the Hindu
Merchant Community of Lohana's living in the Sind who were converted to Islam
sometime circa 1423 in the early part of the fifteenth century. The story goes
on to say that the conversion was carried out by a Muslim Saint and the
community was given the name "Moomin", which means "believer" in Arabic, which
then has evolved into the present day "Memon" name. No doubt this theory has
many varied versions attached to it based on the fact that the community never
kept written records gf their history and culture during those times. Most of
the versions of the varying stories wee passed down from generation to
generation through oral communication imbibed with folklore for more spice and
passion.

The Encyclopedia of Islam, a
well known work on Islam and Muslim Communities across the globe published in
London, states that the Memons are a trading community of Gujarat who claim to
have embraced the religion of Islam around the 12th Century. They are said to
have been converted to Islam from the trading Lohana and Kutch Bania castes
living in Sind and Kutch either by a son or a descendant of the famous saint
Abdul Qadir Jailani (Vol VI.1990). This statement seems to be derived from the
original legend of the community published in the Gazetteer of the Bombay
Presidency in the latter part of the 19th Century as follows:-

"Maulana Abdul Kadir
Muhi-yud-din Gilani, the Saint of Saints, died at Baghdad in AD 1165 (H.561). On
his deathbed he ordered one of his sons, Taj-ud-din, to settle in India and to
display to its people the light of Islam.

In AD 1421 (H.838) Sayad
Eusuf-ud-din Hadri, fifth in descent from Taj-ud-din, in a miraculous dream was
ordered to set sail for Sindh and guide its people to the right way of Islam.

When Sayad Eusuf-ud-din
reached Sind, its capital was Nagar-Thatta and its ruler was a chief of the
Samma dynasty (AD.1351-1521) with the title of Markab Khan who received Sayad
Eusuf-ud-din with honor and treated him as his guest. At this time, Ma'nekji,
the head of the eighty four nukhs or divisions of the Lohana community was in
favor at the court of Markab Khan. Markab Khan became a follower of the Sayad
and Ma'nekji with two of his three sons and 700 Lohana families followed their
rulers example. Of the two sons of Ma'nekji, who became converts, Ravji was
called Ahmed and Ravji's sons Sundarji and Hansraj were named Adam and Taj
Muhammad. n their conversion, the saint changed the name of their community from
Mota and Lohana to Mu'amin or Believers and investing Adam with a dress of
honore, appointed him hereditary head of the new community with his seat at Wara
near Thatta".

Many may ask the pertinent
question as to from where the Bombay Gazetteer derived its narrative? The
Gazetteer does mention that the source of the story is attributed to an Urdu
booklet titled "Nuzhat-ul-Akbar" (aka the Abrajul Haq) written by one Sayad
Amir-ud-din Nuzhat in 1873. Nuzhat himself claims to have been given the story
by a rather obscure figure named Pir Buzurg Ali of Mundra in Kacch. The authors
of the Bombay Gazetteer were however of the view that the story was probably
true because it had been derived from three respectable sources, viz "the
pedigree of the Holy Sayad Buzurg Ali; sanads, or patents, of the headship of
the community conferred on Ma'nekji, the first Lohana convert to Islam and in
the possession of Seth Shabena Bhuj, Manekji's descendantg in Bombay; Sanads, or
Patents, in the possession of Joshi Bhojaji, a descendant of Hansraj, son of
Ramani, the caste priest of the Lohanas at the time of their conversion".

Other
Theories

Besides the Lohana conjecture
there are also many other alternate theories on the origins of the Memons. One,
propounded by Abdul Rahman, holds that the Lohanas who converted to Islam were
not an insignificant trading community, but rather rulers of Sind who had their
capital at "Brahmanabad" or "City of Brahmins". They are said to have converted
as Muhammad bin Qasim the Arab Conqueror of India arrived in that country in 712
AC.

Yet another, popularized by
Naz Mongroli, holds that the Memons were originally not a Hindu but a Buddhist
caste engaged in the weighing of precious stones and that their name is, in
fact, derived from 'mai', meaning one who weighs and 'man', meaning precious
stones. This caste is said to have converted to Islam upon Bis Qassim's victory
over the Hindu King Dahir in the early 8th century.

Another theory, publicized by
Muhammad Qassim Barla, holds that the Memon converts to Islam originated not
from the Lohanas, but from some low caste Hindus settled down around the Sind
and Kacch coasts who were given protection by their Muslim rulers at a spot
between Makran and Sistan. These protected subjects became known as Ma'maum
meaning 'protected' subsequently changing to Memon.

Finally, there is the theory
postulated by Karimbaksh Khalid which holds that the Memons were originally
Arabs hailing from Qa'tif near Ta'if in the Arabian Peninsular who belonged to
the tribe of Banu Tamim. They are said to have constituted the right-wing of the
army of the army of Bin Qassim, the Arab Conqueror of Sind known as Maymenah or
"rightwingers" which designation later became Memon.

All the alternative theories,
however, do not have as much credibility as the original Lohana theory on
account of their lack of substantial evidence and inferior sources whose
integrity is questionable.

'The Memons - Important Muslim minority of Sri Lanka'

Hameed Karim Bhoja - DN
Wed May 31, 2006

Community:
The Memons of Sri Lanka constitute a small but important minority community in
the island, numbering a mere 7000 persons in a nation of over 20 million. Their
contribution to the national life of the country has nevertheless been
significant.

They have contributed immensely to the
economic life of the country, not only as importers and traders of various
essential goods, but also as manufacturers and exporters of high quality
garments that have today become a major source of foreign earnings.

They also have their own member of
parliament, the Hussein Bhaila who presently serves as Deputy Minister of Plan
Implementation under the UPFA Government and is in charge of all matters
connected with the implementation of the Mahinda Chintanaya, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa's vision and aspirations for National Development Programme.

Early origins

The Memons though now a Muslim people,
trace their origins to a Hindu trading community known as the Lohanas who lived
in Sind in present-day Pakistan. They are believed to have embraced Islam around
the fifteenth century.

The story of their conversion finds
mention in the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency as follows: "Maulana Abdul
Kadir Muhi-yud-din Gilani, the Saint of Saints, died at Baghdad in A.D. 1165
(H.561). On his deathbed he ordered one of his sons, Taj-ud-din, to settle in
India and display to its people the light of Islam.

In A.D. 1421 (H. 838) Sayad Eusu-uf-din
Hadri, fifth in descent from Taj-ud-din, in a miraculous dream was ordered to
set sail for Sindh and guide its people in the right way of Islam. When Sayad
Eusuf-ud-din reached Sindh, its capital was Nagar - Thatta and its ruler was a
chief of the Samma dynasty (A.D. 1351-1521) with the title of Markab Khan who
received Sayad Eusuf-ud-din with honour and treated him as his guest.

At this time, Ma'nekji, the head of the
eighty-four nukhs or divisions of the Lohana community was in favour at the
court of Markab Khan. Markab Kahan became a follower of the Sayad and Ma'nekji
with two of his three sons and 700 Lohana families followed their ruler's
example.

Of the two sons of Ma'nekji who became
converts, Ravji was called Ahmed and Ravji's sons Sundarji and Hansraj were
named Adam and Taj Muhamman. On their conversion, the saint changed the name of
the community from Mota and Lohana to Mu'amin or Believers and investing Adam
with a dress of honour, appointed him hereditary head of the new community with
his seat at Wara near Thatta".

The Memons subsequently migrated
southwards to the Kathiawad Peninsula of Gujarat where they formed settlements
such as Kutiyana, Porbandar and Upleta. It is from this region that the Memons
domiciled in Sri Lanka have their origins. The early Memons who resorted to Sri
Lanka did so to engage in textile trading.

They would purchase textiles from India
and sell them locally as they had a good demand here. The first Memon arrival in
the island is said to have been an individual named Abdul Rahman who arrived
here in 1870. This early migrant also known as Manna Seth began here as an
itinerant peddler of textiles in Jaffna before settling in Pettah and building
up a considerable business.

With time, Memons originating from
Kutiyana and other parts of Gujarat had begun to steadily resort to the island
for business purposes, but it was only the men who came here.

The women were left behind in their homes
in Kathiawad. However, with the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, those
Memons who had their businesses and families here became citizens. They looked
upon Sri Lanka as their own country and set about giving their best to it.

Social Life

The Memons are on the whole a religious
community and have established mosques and madrasas in many parts of the island
for the benefit of the larger Islamic fraternity. They also have their own
mosque, the Memon Hanafi Mosque in Pettah, where Friday sermons are delivered in
Urdu language with which many of them are familiar. They also have their own
Madrasa, Faiz-e-Raza established a little over ten years ago to meet the
religious needs of the community.

The Memons, unlike the majority of the
country's Muslims who follow the Shafi School of Islamic jurisprudence are
zealous adherents of the Hanafi School of law founded by Imam Abu Hanifah. They
have their own Quazi or judge who settles civil disputes according to this
school.

The Memons also have a distinct cultural
identity, which closely resembles that of other Muslims of the Indian
subcontinent. Their Memon language is an Indo-Aryan tongue believed to have
derived from Sindhi, though heavily overlaid with Gujarati elements. Many
however understand Urdu, which serves as a lingua franca among the Muslims of
the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.

Even the practices relating to the major
events of life such as marriage closely resemble those prevailing among Indian
Muslims.

These include the Viaji Raja, the formal
seeking of the bride's consent shortly before the marriage ceremony and other
prenuptial practices such as the Mehendi ceremony where a red dye Mehendi (Lawsonia
inermis) is applied on the bride's hands and feet to form beautiful designs.
Even the attire is similar. Men prefer the long shirt and ijar (pyjama) while
women commonly wear the shalwa-khameez, a most feminine two-piece garment of
Indian origin.

The womenfolk are extremely fond of
typical Indian jewellery. Thus the Memons could be said to represent a typical
Indian migrant community who have jealously preserved their traditional way of
life. Memon Association

It is opportune to mention here that the
Memon Association of Sri Lanka (MASL) today celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The
Association formed in 1956 by well-known Memon personalities of the day such as
Prof. Rauf Pasha, Dr. Ibrahim Dangra and Haji Usman Bhaila. It was then known as
the Memon Association of Ceylon and based in hulftsdorp.

Today, as the Memon Association of Sri
Lanka celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is worthy to mention the immense
contribution made towards community by Dr. A. A. M. Haroon, the present
President of the Association and his young and dynamic team, particularly for
their bold decision to host the 4th World Memon Conference held in Colombo from
May 19-21.

In 1907, the leading Memon firm in Colombo
was that of Janoo Hassan, with headquarters in India and branches all over India
and Burma (Wright 1907: pp 494).